#Challenge52Kits Front Row - February 2013

Welcome to February 2013 and the Studio Calico kit, Front Row.

ABOUT FRONT ROW | Lots of yellows, greens, and blues, as I mentioned in the last post, so my goal with this one was to incorporate some other colors in there!

Main kit leftover	Big Screen leftover
Junior Mints leftover

A LAYOUT | I started with this picture and the two pieces of patterned paper that I ended up using. I had also selecting a couple extra supporting pieces, but didn't end up needing them. After I cut the yellow striped paper, the rest fell into place very quickly - love when that happens!

NEXT UP | Neverland… and the Lost Boys stamp set that I just HAD to have, but not sure I ever did… thinking I should try to use it! And now I am "caught up" but we'll see if I get the extra time this weekend to work on this layout. Merry Christmas everyone!

#Challenge52Kits Block Party - January 2013

I shared this on my Instagram, but back in January 2013, I was into my 1st trimester with my daughter and so tired and nauseous, which is why I think I never liked this kit… it is one of my least favorites of all time!

ABOUT BLOCK PARTY | I don't know if it was also the colors, but it was a mix of odd colors that didn't pair all that well together - red, orange, yellow, lime green, teal, and a mucky gray… just blah!

Main kit leftover	Pioneer Drive leftover
Woodbrooke Road leftover

A LAYOUT | I had trouble getting started on this layout, mainly because I generally start all my layouts first by picking out papers to go with my pictures. So I switched gears for this layout and started with the pictures and the envelope. Once I had a bit of a direction with how I wanted those to appear on the page, I just used the orange paper that was already cut to that size as a column and embellished on top, leaving out the difficult decision of having to incorporate more random patterned and colored paper!

NEXT UP | Front Row from February 2013 - a kit that I remember as having lots of yellows, greens, and blues, so my goal this week was to wrap it up by trying to work in some variety of colors there.

#Challenge52Kits 34th Street - December 2012

I'm back to my blog, playing a bit of catch up, amidst this busy Christmas season! A few weeks ago I took out 34th Street, and wanted to try to make a non-Christmas layout for it!

ABOUT 34TH STREET | 2012 was the first year I ever (attempted) December Daily - I finished it eventually, when preordering was available for the 2013 kit, around September. Since it was my first one, I thought it would be a good idea to order extra papers and add-on kits so I'd have enough supplies to finish it haha!

Main kit leftover	Murray Hill leftover
Kris Kringle leftover

A LAYOUT | For this layout, I started with a color neutral photo that I wanted to scrap, and after trying a handful of papers, I decided on the solid pink background. I should've misted it first, but didn't think of that till after I adhered everything, so I went back with white pen to draw in some ink spots. I loved the semi-circles idea from this layout by Maggie Holmes and used it to sort of break up the hard line across the page.

NEXT UP | Block Party from 2013...

#Challenge52Kits Sock Hop - November 2012

Welcome back to November 2012 with Studio Calico's Sock Hop kit!

ABOUT SOCK HOP | I loved the reds in the main kit, but the add-on kits were so girly, I made a wide range of layouts with this one and was excited to bump out one more!

Main kit leftover
Bobby Socks leftover	Poodle Skirt leftover

A LAYOUT | To keep the layout design simple, I just looked at the Creative Team gallery for this kit and scraplifted this layout by Maggie Holmes! After I had the banners all cut out, and punched the chevron washi paper into circles that I cut off, the main portion of time was spent stitching along the top of the banner. But armed with Amazon Prime and access to all seasons of Frasier, and staying up late at night, it was quite enjoyable to just do some mindless work with my hands :)

NEXT UP | 34th Street, and just in time for all Christmas everything this December! 2012 was the first year I participated in December Daily officially so I don't think I made much with this kit!

#Challenge52Kits Roller Rink - October 2012

Welcome to the Roller Rink from October 2012!

ABOUT ROLLER RINK | Roller Rink was an interesting one for me, it seemed like it had a lot of white mixed in with some reddish-oranges, yellows, and greens. I didn't purchase a whole lot at the time, but when I went to use it, I fell in love with the kit and the contrast the white provided, and hello - I think this was the first kit we saw enamel dots appear!

Main kit leftover

Crack the Whip leftover

A LAYOUT | I started by printing some pictures, and since I just loved these pictures I took of my daughter, I printed them big! So I went with a simple grid structure, which also helped since I didn't have much in the way of patterned papers leftover.

NEXT UP | Sock Hop from November 2012… I must admit, the end of 2012 really ended with a bang for me and really enjoyed Roller Rink and Sock Hop, so I'm excited to see what I can make with Sock Hop for next week!

#Challenge52Kits Central High - September 2012

Welcome to September 2012!

ABOUT CENTRAL HIGH | I wonder if I squealed with excitement when Central High was first previewed - all that Amy Tangerine goodness from her Ready Set Go collection! Loved those big numbers in the add-on kits and so this month I got 3 of the 4 add-ons!

Main kit leftover	Style Guide leftover
Capital Avenue leftover	Register leftover

A LAYOUT | For my layout, I was planning to find a nice school picture of Natalie, but ended up printing this one of her sitting on the four wheeler. Then I wanted to make this layout for my husband's album, so I decided to make 8.5x11 layout and used a sketch template from Simple Scrapper! It was so quick and easy with the template. I added a half border on two sides of the page because I wanted to include one more patterned paper and give it some contrast!

NEXT UP | Roller Rink from October 2012 - it will be very interesting what I come up with because I didn't buy very much that month plus I made a lot of layouts and cards with it after taking it to a retreat weekend with me. Actually, that was the last retreat I went to since I found out a few months later I was pregnant with Natalie and haven't been back since!

#Challenge52Kits Summer of '69 - August 2012

Welcome to Summer of '69, the kit from August 2012!

ABOUT SUMMER OF '69 | I felt like this would've been counted as yet another mostly pink, girly kit, except for the dramatic navy blue and clouds mixed in! Either way I would've loved it and I did love this kit!

Main kit leftover	Five & Dime leftover
Drive-in Leftover

A LAYOUT | For my layout I used this free cut file from a few months ago on the Basic Grey blog by Lisa Dickinson! At the time I had cut it out of white paper and decided to save it for a time when I would be crunched for time and would need make a layout without fussing over the design etc. This way I was able to just get right to work on cutting the circles and my pictures and not worrying so much about planning the layout!

To print and cut my pictures, I measured approximately the diameter of the circle I wanted to fill in the template with my ruler, then I made that size circle in Photoshop. I used it to mask my photo, and made sure to leave some extra space around the people in the photos in case part of it was covered up once I put it behind the template. I did a rough cut around each circle by hand, then taped it to the back of the template, super easy! I did a similar thing for the papers, except I traced them on the front, then did my rough cut, then erased the pencil lines before taping.

NEXT UP | Central High, and more Amy Tangerine goodness!

#Challenge52Kits Elmwood Park - July 2012

I am definitely a bit behind here, but still keeping up with my layouts… so here is Elmwood Park from July 2012!

ABOUT ELMWOOD PARK | I loved all the bright colors from this kit and wasn't sure what direction to go, but then I had this picture of Natalie with all her babies, bears, and Elmo laying down and since it had so many colors also, I figured it would pair well with this kit!

Main kit leftover	Twisty Slide leftover
Four Square leftover	scraps

A LAYOUT | For this layout, I really loved the big letters on the one piece of paper that I ended up using for the title, but wanted to use the blue-ish back side of the 2nd piece I had (from More Patterned Paper)… except Natalie has 2 A's so I went with a different background paper and decided on the yellow. It really brightened up the page and added more color! The stamp from the Four Square add-on was one of my favorites from this month so I decided to use it again.

NEXT UP | Summer of '69 from summer of 2012, but I ended up using it to make a layout from fall of 2015 :)